| Fadhil Yunus |
DPMM FC head coach Steve Kean has called on his charges to build a strong start with conviction against Garena Young Lions in the S-League tonight at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium to ensure that there is no repeat of their early setback similar to their last league encounter.
It is little wonder that the players have been called upon to reproduce their ‘aggressive start’ that they perfected in harmony against Balestier Khalsa at the end of last season.
“We’ve started slowly in the last few games and we allowed opposition to get a foothold in the game,” said Kean in an interview after a training session at the Jerudong Mini Stadium yesterday.
“We need to start this game like we started last year in the last game of the season against Balestier very aggressively and press really high trying to get the ball back as quickly as possible and impose our own momentum and intensity from the first minute,” he continued.
The head coach wants his charges to repeat their succession of good starts last season which have proven decisive to their impressive home record which garnered only two home defeats.
DPMM FC players in a training session for the Young Lions match. – FADHIL YUNUS
Everyone connected in the starting line-up has been called to make the first minutes of the game count and not getting embroiled in a situation where they have to play catch-up.
Adam Swandi, a bright young prospect in Singapore football, could feature as a player who will be providing the most threat for the Young Lions but it does not necessarily mean using man-marking to stop him.
The head coach has been pleased with the quality of training to a point that it was the best since the start of the season but their work in Jerudong will be irrelevant if they could not reproduce their efforts on the pitch.
“I’ve said to the lads that there is no point training like this and then not performing in the match. We train so that in the end we perform in the matches so that’s the focus where we want to be more aggressive in the early parts of the game.” If the ‘Gegar Gegar’ men manage to set the tone with the first goal it may send alarm bells ringing to any opponent who would face a difficult obstacle in a fortress as the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium.
“If we get the first goal, it is very difficult for opponents especially at home in Brunei to come back against us,” he concluded.
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